Toasts

[John Dunn]

And not only in America.  A recent BBC series had a (fictional)
episode set in Russia during which a group of Russian-speaking actors
were forced to say 'Na zdorov'e'.  Mind you, they did all get blown
up in the next scene, and while it may be rare for the Russian mafia
to exact revenge for linguistic errors, it does perhaps give us a
salutary warning that we can pass on to our students.

On the subject of Liudmila, it may be worth noting that the person
whose martyrdom gave the name currency was a tenth-century Bohemian
princess.  L.M. Shchetinin, Imena i nazvanija (Rostov-on-Don, 1968)
gives some interesting historical information on the frequency of
Russian first names, from which it would appear that Liudmila was not
found all that often before the twentieth century.

John Dunn



>In all American films (that I saw) I heard "Russians" saying "NA
>zdorovje" before drinking. I even started doubting my cultural
>competence:)  But still I am absolutely sure that before making
>chin-chin:) in Russian one should say _ZA zdorovje_
>
>Valery  Belyanin
>Editor of www.textology.ru
>
>
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--
John Dunn
Department of Slavonic Studies
University of Glasgow
Hetherington Building
Bute Gardens
Glasgow
G12 8RS
Tel.: +44 (0)141-330-5591
Fax: +44 (0)141-330-2297
e-mail: J.Dunn at slavonic.arts.gla.ac.uk

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